Pagan festival rituals in an outdoor setting have always been a great opportunity to connect directly with the natural world around us. The trees, the plants, the animals, insects and even the biome of the soil itself, are present and many are readily available to step into the workings.
Opening pagan festival ritual
At PCR, we open with a pagan festival ritual to set the tone, engage with the theme of the event, connect with the space and collect all who will attend to arrive safely at our destination, whether they are there yet or not. I often consider this a start to the entire weekend being enclosed in ritual space. It is a bit of out of time and space while we are there. I am not sure if anyone else has noticed it, but time is somewhat ephemeral, with some hours seeming like moments and a few moments that seem like hours while we are in PCR spaces.
Rituals during the festival
We are always looking for groups or individuals to lead rituals during the weekend. Friday evening is a bit smaller group, as some attendees, arrive late or on Saturday, but it is well attended. In 2022 we shifted our event dates to Earth Day weekend, which is set between the Equinox and Beltane. This gave our presenters a wide variety of themes to reach for, in rituals and presentations. The Crooked Mile coven brought us a gorgeous ritual for the Vernal Equinox that was both a dramatic presentation and interactive with the attendees. We left the space with a small vial of “elixir” to facilitate our dream-time. There was a space in the morning to talk it through during breakfast time.
This year we also had an track of presentations that were inclusive Heathenry influenced and our Saturday evening ritual was a Blot for Idunn, a springtime deity associated with apples. This ritual space was educational, as we learned about a new deity to many of us. It was also interactive as we partook of a bite and then planted the rest as an offering to Idunna and the earth. Engaging the community in collective attention during PCR has been a great opportunity. It serves both those who present and those who attend the wide variety of rituals that have been offered at PCR over the last 9 years.
During the course of presentations during the day, we often have pagan festival rituals as part of the offering. This past spring one of our elders presented a ritual to the Dark Mother on Saturday afternoon. Another presenter engaged a meditative movement/yoga time accompanied by a harp that was a ritual space in my experience.
Closing our festival
Our final activity, before breaking down the community spaces and our own campsites, is the closing ritual of the weekend. It is generally a moment to center ourselves, collect our energy for the drive home. Then again to set intentions for all our attendees to travel safely back to their homes. It is also a moment of connection and gratitude with the space before we depart.
Our planning committee is always delighted to have community members offer to center a ritual. Thy find ways to connect our community and event with the sacred in and around us all. Please see the website to submit a suggestion if you have an offering to share.